The market was also digesting US President Barack Obama’s decision on Tuesday to veto legislation allowing the Keystone XL oil pipeline to be built between Canada and the United States.

The 1,180-mile (1,900-kilometre) TransCanada-built pipeline would transport crude from energy-rich Alberta to a network of pipelines that reach across the United States to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama says he is not against the project in principle, but accused legislators of trying to “circumvent longstanding and proven processes” for gauging whether Keystone is in the national interest.

The project has in recent years pitted environmental groups against the oil industry, which has argued that it will bring much-needed jobs to the United States and help it achieve energy self-sufficiency.